A New Mission: Happiness is Simple

Family

Welcome back A New Mission readers!

I am so excited to share this sequel with you. This story is more or less expanded from an extended epilogue to A New Mission: Ash to Fire. One that with a lot of thought and ever-increasing ideas I decided to just prepare it as a full-blown sequel. If Ash to Fire was like Avatar 1 but for Quaritch, you'll find this one to be much more like his own Way of Water—contending with family, but also demons of the past.

For anyone new, I'd highly recommend reading the first story before reading this one. I know it's long... but I promise the total journey is worth it and will make this one more fulfilling.

A little notesI can think of sharing is that all conversations are in Na'vi unless otherwise indicated as in English. Our characters' human last names have also gotten Na'vi'd. So Quaritch has become Kwarìts, and Wainfleet has become Weynflit. The latter is pronounced the same though as "i" makes the "ee" sound in Na'vi [think Kiri], and "ì" with the grave accent is a short stressed vowel like in gig, wish, or itch. There is no "itch" sound in Na'vi though, hence my interpretive transformation of Quaritch to Kwarìts which was done at the end of the first book.

As always, I *really* live for votes and comments (all writers do!). In addition to the enjoyment of writing the story, the comments really especially go a long way. Okay I'll stop rambling. I hope you all enjoy, you're in for another great Avatar story.

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The daily Pandoran Eclipse which occurs at the height of the day as the mass of Polyphemus passes between Alpha Centauri B and the lush moon, was just moments from falling over Zik'txpono, the archipelago home of the Ash People. This volcanic island chain was separated from the mainland by a narrow strip of the Eastern Sea where neither could be seen from the shores of the other. As Narawawm moved to obscure Tsawke, as these great celestial objects are called in Na'vi, darkness overtook the canyon, gorge, and plateau-laden landscape of the biggest island at the northernmost length of the archipelago.

Under the black, starry sky the dense tropical forests which exist among the canyons and ridges bioluminesced with white, blue, and purple glows. Glowing blue surf from microorganisms washed in and out with the waves on the nearly black volcanic rocky sand of the beaches. The desert-like plateaus and grassy savannahs underlain by dark volcanic soil had a more subtle glow beneath the blades, which shined more brightly with the steps and movement of a herd of yerik-like ti'pik galloping over the open, starlit landscape.

The orange incandescence of lava flows at the southern and eastern portions of the island illuminated the bellies of wild cliff Ikran which flew over these harsh environments. These horned, dragon-like Ikran with their virtually black, iridescent, and rough hides were hard to pick out otherwise over the dark landscape save for the peppered glowing white spots amidst their scales.

Two volcanic peaks, one larger than the other that were miles apart rose high above the island. The smaller extinct northern cone housed inside it a great spirit tree whose scaly trunk and long, firm, succulent-like leaves and tendrils emanated a glow on the interior of the hollowed dome. To the south of this volcanic cone lay a dense, dark forest, even more alien than the typical forests of Pandora where giant, deadly camouflaged beasts roam about in the shadows.

The village of the Ash People, deep in one of the interior canyons of this big island was beginning to wind down under the darkness with the people having gotten their early daily chores out of the way, eclipse providing a nice and natural break between the two halves of the day. With their affinity for fire, dark barely registers in the canyon with numerous torches, hearths, and pyres lighting up the elongated village, the radiating fireglow upon the rocky canyon walls, and stone and brick homes and work huts. The work huts were empty, but the homes were occupied by the people and their families, eclipse often being the time for lunch or relaxation.